Characteristics of High Injury Severity Crashes on 80 – 110 km/h Rural Roads in South Australia

This paper aims to present an overview of the characteristics of high injury severity rural road crashes in South Australia by examining the relationship between high severity injuries and other crash variables. A data set of approximately five thousand crashes was generated by taking all casualty crashes (excluding pedestrian and non-motorised vehicles) on South Australian rural roads, outside of Adelaide, with a speed limit of 80 km/h or more from the years 2002 to 2006. The results provide an overview of the proportion of high injury severity outcomes associated with various crash, road, vehicle and driver characteristics and are summarised in tables. A logistic regression analysis indicated that a higher speed limit, hours of darkness or low light and a dry road predicted high injury severity for single vehicle crashes involving cars and car derivatives.